gandalf

It’s important to study if you hope to get good grades, but a lot of parents spend far too much time trying to convince their kids to crack open their books. Here’s the perfect solution. Watch as Ian McKellen breaks out his best Gandalf to the delight of the kids at Chew Valley School in Bristol. If he can’t convince these kids, then no one can.

It’s one of the great mysteries of the world. Why didn’t Gandalf just fly the darn eagles all the way to Mordor? Theories abound, but this one, it might be the best. In this Lego-fied explanation, we finally see what would have happened to our heroes had they taken the eagles all the way to their final destination.

Thanks to Ralph Bakshi’s son Eddie Bakshi, you can now see parts of the fight between Gandalf and The Balrog that were cut from the original 1978 animated Lord Of The Rings.

Boing Boing’s Ethan Gilsdorf got in touch with Bakshi himself to talk about the classic films and managed to get a little more information on the newly found footage in the process.

…some of the scenes from that 1978 classic have been rescued from the “cutting room floor,” Bakshi, now 75, said when I reached him via email this week.

Eddie Bakshi, Bakshi’s son, has been busy scanning in original “cel” artwork from Bakshi’s archives, timing them to the cartoon’s original exposure sheets, and posting the scenes on Bakshi’s Facebook page. (The Facebook page also includes clips from Bakshi’s other films, though it appears none of these are new.)

The particular Rings footage that has been restored comes from the Gandalf vs. Balrog fight sequence, and it is brief. One clip is a three-shot, 12-second sequence of the two characters falling into the void, titled “Gandalf recalls fighting the Balrog.” The other is a 10-second shot described as “Gandalf duels with the Balrog and smashes into the endless staircase.” In the film, the Balrog battle was recounted via minimally-animated still images.

He went on to explain that the Balrog and the overall animation in this recovered footage look different that the rest of the film because this was a flashback in the form of Gandalf’s memory, so it’s more as he experienced and remembers it. Vaseline on the lens, as it were. Bakshi couldn’t quite get the different styles to work, which is why the footage was removed.

According to lore, the Iron Throne was made up of all the swords that were surrendered to Aeryn Targaryen. According to the above picture, Gandalf was among the conquered. You can see what appears to be his sword tucked behind Joffrey’s head. There’s really no explanation for this, but we haven’t seen Peter Jackson’s third Hobbit film. Who knows what he’s got up his sleeve?

Then again, the prop makers behind the throne probably used whatever they could get their hands on—which means other famous swords might be lurking in the chair. Happy hunting.

Do you have a Gandalf costume and a large stick? Apparently you can walk around and just tell random people and vehicles that they shall not pass. In this case, Gandalf steps in front of a train to stop it in his tracks so the fellowship of the ring can run behind him and get away. It’s funny, but man, unless this was staged and planned, it’s incredibly stupid and dangerous. His fake wizard powers wouldn’t have prevented injuries.

Sir Ian McKellen made a stop at Sesame Street and ran into the puppet version of Gandalf guarding the grocery store. You might think he’d yell, “You shall not pass!” and that would be the end of it, but McKellen used his manners and was allowed to happily go about his business.

If you didn’t read the Lord of the Rings before seeing The Fellowship of the Ring, you may have been confused by Gandalf refusing to take the One Ring and relieve Frodo of his burden. It seems like a wise person with good intent should be able to control the power, but as you soon learn, that’s the trick. DeviantArt user Benjamin Collison imagined what Gandalf would look like if he succumbed to temptation and wore the ring. Behold, Gandalf the Black. He looks like a wizard you really, really wouldn’t want to make angry.

Gandalf stopped the Balrog of Moria, surely he can stop some pedestrians on a bridge in Central Park. At least, you’d think so. In this video, a man dressed as Gandalf shouts “you shall not pass” and tries his best to get people to stop. Most people laugh, take a picture, and move on. One passerby even yells a spell from Harry Potter at him. Poor Gandalf.